Best easy day hikes near Brisbane

Good for: Walking on water
Drive from CBD: 40 mins
Walking time: 30-60 mins
Family friendly? Yes

King Island is a tiny mangrove-ringed islet in Moreton Bay and just a sandy stroll off the coast of Wellington Point. At low tide, it’s linked to the mainland by sand flats. Two hours either side of high tide and the link is a stunning meandering causeway. Choose your walk time carefully as the sand bridge to the mainland is submerged at high tide. (Check the tide times here.) You start and finish at Wellington Point Recreation Reserve where there is a kick-ass playground under huge fig trees and calm water swimming. This 30-60 minute walk is a good family outing. There’s even a handy coffee shop and a fish and chipper, plus toilets, a shower and great views of Moreton Bay. This is as easy as walks get, but timing is everything here – it’s busy on weekends and crazy on school hols, but if you can avoid these and get the tides and sunset just right, Wellington Point is amazeballs.

Good for: Waterfalls, fungi
Drive from CBD: 70 mins
Walking time: 120 mins
Family friendly? Yes

The Greenes Falls Circuit is an easy 4.3 km walk through verdant rainforest and a palm valley. Start from Maiala Picnic Ground on Mount Glorious Road and head down a mix of boardwalk, steps and dirt track, past huge strangler figs towards a cascade waterfall. Keep your eyes peeled for weird and wonderful fungi. The path is not wheelchair or pram friendly but the walk is pretty easy for small kids who can enjoy exploring the rainforest trail. The walk is well signposted and will take the average person two hours return. To extend your walk, branch off along the 350m Cypress Grove Circuit that weaves through a stand of native cypress trees. While you are up in the mountains there are also more easy walks along the road to Mount Nebo like the Boombana, Thylogale and Morelia tracks.

Good for: Waves, rocks, marine life
Drive from CBD: 100 mins including ferry journey
Walking time: 30-60 mins
Family friendly? Under close supervision

The boardwalk built around the North Gorge on Straddie allows easy viewing of this natural wonder. The elevated platform lets you get close to the cliffs and see the waves being funnelled into the spectacular gorge. The walk is 1.2km and will take you 30 mins to an hour. There are several great spots to linger and watch the waves roll in. We’ve seen turtles, rays and dolphins from here and it's a great spot to spot migrating humpback whales between June and November. Plus there’s a giant blowhole down in the rocks when the tide and waves are just right. Please don’t stray from the designated areas (it's not a good place to fall in) and bring a hat and sunscreen. You’ll need to get the ferry over to North Stradbroke Island either with your car or on foot (and catch a bus to Point Lookout). Ferries depart Toondah Harbour, Cleveland, and access to the walk is on Moloomba Road at Point Lookout.  

Good for: Panoramic views
Drive from CBD: 90 mins
Walking time: 1-2 hrs
Family friendly? Under supervision, and you could end up carrying little kids

The summit of this volcanic dome has stunning 360 degree vistas up and down the Sunshine Coast, over to the Glasshouse Mountains and west out to the Blackall Range. The walk is only 1.6km but half of that is uphill, so allow one to two hours depending on your fitness. The track is well maintained with some natural and person-made steps. Start your hike from Mount Coolum Car Park, on Tanah Street West, via David Low Way. Take water and sun protection, stay on designated tracks and don’t try this mountain in wet weather. Keep your eyes peeled for peregrine falcons too. The hike is a good workout, and in a great spot where you can easily pop over to the magnificent beaches to wash off the sweat.

Good for: Views
Drive from CBD: 90 mins
Walking time: 3-4 hours
Family friendly? Older kids only under close supervision

Cunninghams Gap passes between Mount Mitchell and Mount Cordeaux and both offer awesome walks to scale them. The tracks leave from the carpark on the Cunningham Highway right at the top of the gap. Either mountain can be ascended by following a graded trail for an hour or three depending on your fitness. You won't be scrambling, let alone needing ropes, but you will be going uphill, there will be steps and you are in a wilderness area so don’t fall off a cliff! The view from both mountains is spectacular, both eastward where the highway winds down the range towards the coast, and west where the range extends into the farmlands of the interior. The trails have numerous vantage points and pass through forests varying from eucalypt and rainforest to semi alpine at the peaks. 

Good for: Mountain views
Drive from CBD: 70 mins
Walking time: 90 mins
Family friendly: Yes, with supervision

These picturesque Sunshine Coast volcanic plugs are must-dos for bushwalkers, but the choice of which mountain to hike up is important. First timers or those a little unfit would be advised to try Mount Ngungun – it's a moderately easy hour or so walk to the top. Nothing too dangerous, just be careful near cliff edges and on the uneven terrain. Supervised kids can do this one. You get fabulous views of the other mountains, especially Mounts Coonowrin and Beerwah, which are lined up from here. It's popular, so choose your time of year wisely. By the time you get back to your car you may still feel like another easy walk. Luckily there's lots nearby, so try Wild Horse Mountain (700m up a fully concreted path for more great views) or do the circuit walk around the base of Mount Tibrogargan (3km through forests with mountain views) to fill your day. Those who are more capable could set their sights higher and go up Mount Tibrogargan or Mount Beerwah. 

Good for: Creeks, waterfalls and figs
Drive from CBD: 100 mins
Walking time: 2 hrs
Family friendly? Under supervision, especially at the plateau top

The Springbrook Plateau, in the Gold Coast hinterland, is beautiful and the Twin Falls track is a corker. Park on top of the plateau at Tallanbana or Canyon Lookouts and follow the signs. The four-kilometre trail is a mix of concrete, gravel and plain old dirt, and is a fun two-hour walk. After a bit of wet weather this place just goes off as the streams pick up. The walk crosses the creeks at the plateau top then eventually loops back underneath them as they plummet 50m or so off the cliffs. The trail has been constructed so it actually goes behind the waterfalls for added photogenic bliss. There’s the usual wicked rainforest figs and vines as well as some crazy rock formations and crevices that the trail goes through. 

Good for: Rainforests, waterfalls, lookouts
Drive from CBD: 90 mins
Walking time: 3-4 hours
Family friendly? For older kids who can walk for 4 hours!

Lamington National Park is a world heritage area famed for its amazing rainforest. The Binna Burra Section of Lamington has many fantastic walks, but a great starter with lots of variety is the Daves Creek Circuit. Beginning and ending along the Border Track, this loop takes three to four hours to do the 12km. You’ll walk through subtropical and temperate rainforests, windswept montane heath and patches of wet eucalypt forest. There's views over to the Springbrook plateau and down into the Numinbah Valley. A little waterfall near Molongolee Cave is often blown back up the cliff by the winds that come up the mountain valley. There’s a couple of cute streams that the path hops over, some great lookouts and a rocky outcrop you can scramble up for views over the mountain heath in the middle of the rainforest range. The Daves Creek Circuit is an excellent intro to Lamington and a readily repeatable wilderness sojourn. 

Good for: Swimming, views and reptiles
Drive from CBD: 1 hour 46 mins
Walking time: 2 hours
Family friendly? Not recommended for small kids  

The popular Kondalilla National Park is near Montville in the scenic Blackall Range, 91km north of Brisbane. The Kondalilla Falls circuit is 4.7km return along a mix of boardwalks, concrete and mostly dirt tracks. Walk past rock pools and little waterfalls to the top of the Kondalilla Falls with its chilly swimming hole, epic view and cheeky lace monitors (tree goannas) looking for food. Then follow the signposted track as it winds down the escarpment through lush rainforest to the spectacular base of the falls. The track passes huge eucalypts, palms, ferns, strangler figs, bunya pines and several great lookouts. Follow the loop track back uphill through more wondrous rainforest and over little feeder streams. There's more than 300 stairs on this circuit so you’ll still want a degree of fitness, but if you go the signposted way the grade is tolerable. Allow about two hours. Get there early or pick a quiet day as many people frequent the top of the falls for a gander and a swim. 

Good for: Something more challenging
Drive from CBD: 90 mins
Walking time: 5-6 hours
Family friendly: No!

Mount Greville is just off the Cunningham Highway past Aratula. This little gem of a volcanic plug is awesome, but the walk is more advanced than the others here. It is a very different sort of mountain hike compared to the Gap or the Glasshouses. There's three basic ways up the mountain: the Ridge Track, Waterfall Gorge and Palm Gorge. We've been lost on the Ridge Track as it crosses several stretches of bare rock, so stick to the more obvious gorge trails. Besides, the narrow, palm tree-filled gorges are just wicked. Go up either Palm or Waterfall Gorge and down the other. There’s a great view of Lake Moogerah just beyond the top of Waterfall Gorge from Slab Rock, and the summit has views of the range to the northwest. The main attractions are the fabulous shady gorges with their unique cool climate and vegetation. The trails in the gorges are strewn with boulders and palm fronds, so watch your step. Take extra water, and definitely bring some kind of map and navigational skills as this hike can be a smidge trickier. Allow five to six hours as you will be ascending 600 metres, and as it’s a mountain with sheer cliffs ‘n stuff, please apply lashings of caution.